Structural changes of lignins in natural Populus variants during different pretreatments

Journal Article · 31 December 2019 · Bioresource Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122240 · OSTI ID:1606831

Yang, Haitao ^[1]; Yoo, Chang Geun ^[2]; Meng, Xianzhi ^[3]; Pu, Yunqiao Joseph  ^[4]; Muchero, Wellington  ^[4]; Tuskan, Gerald A.  ^[4]; Tschaplinski, Timothy  ^[4]; Ragauskas, Arthur J.  ^[4]; Yao, Lan ^[3]

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1. Hubei Univ. of Technology, Wuhan (China). Hubei Provincial Key Lab. of Green Materials for Light Industry; Hubei Univ. of Technology, Wuhan (China). Collaborative Innovation Center of Green Light-weight Materials and Processing
2. State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY (United States)
3. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
4. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). BioEnergy Science Center (BESC)

In the present study, three leading pretreatment technologies including dilute acid (DA), liquid hot water (LHW), and organosolv pretreatments (OS) were applied on two Populus natural variants with different recalcitrance. The structural features of the isolated lignins were analyzed accordingly. All the studied pretreatments reduced the molecular weights of the lignins. Aliphatic OH was reduced while phenolic OH was increased in all pretreated lignins. HSQC analysis revealed that pretreatment influenced the lignin composition and relative distribution of inter-unit linkages. The lignin S/G ratio was found to increase during DA pretreatment, while it was decreased after LHW and OS pretreatment. LHW pretreatment also resulted in much less cleavage of β-O-4 linkage than the other two pretreatments. These results could offer guidelines on appropriate selection of biomass and pretreatment technology in the future biorefinery process.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1606831
• Journal Information: Bioresource Technology, Journal Name: Bioresource Technology Journal Issue: C Vol. 295; ISSN 0960-8524
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English